VZCZCXRO5037
OO RUEHSR
DE RUEHSW #1462 2211108
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 091108Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2793
INFO RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1130
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0047
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 0121
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0058
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0240
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2578

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERN 001462 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PTER MOPS IS
SUBJECT: UNHRC SPECIAL SESSION ON LEBANON: SWISS AMBIVALENT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 130145 
 
Classified By: Poloff Eric Lundberg, Reasons 1.4 b/d 
 
1.(C) Swiss officials say they are unconvinced of the 
advisability of holding a special session of the UN Human 
Rights Council this week, but view it as a fait accompli, 
given the Chair's agreement to schedule the session for 
August 10.  Poloff spoke to Swiss Department of Foreign 
Affairs deputy IO chief Jean-Francois Paroz several times on 
August 8 and 9 to discourage Swiss support for a special 
session and to encourage Western Group solidarity in the 
event that the session is unavoidable.  Paroz initially on 
August 8 described the Swiss position as ambivalent.  On the 
one hand, the human suffering in Lebanon and Israel certainly 
merited international attention, he said.  On the other hand, 
Bern was sensitive to the mandate of Article 12 of the UN 
Charter for the UN General Assembly not to take up 
simultaneously matters being addressed in the UN Security 
Council.  Paroz also conceded Poloff's point that yet another 
session where countries roundly criticize Israel while only 
tepidly touching on Hizbollah's role would not reflect well 
on the new Human Rights Council. 
 
2.(C) In a follow-up conversation on August 9, Paroz noted 
that the special session had been scheduled for the next day, 
August 10, after 16 countries (primarily OIC members, plus 
Russia, China, and South Africa) had signed a petition and 
(to Paroz surprise) CHR Chairman Luis Alfonso de Alba had 
agreed to hold it.  Paroz added that "most CHR members" had 
apparently convinced themselves that the special session 
would not violate Article 12, since it would deal only with 
human rights, while the UNSC dealt with peace and security. 
(Note: Paroz added that he hoped UN members would take up a 
discussion on the scope of Article 12 for future 
contingencies.  End note.) 
 
3.(C) Paroz reiterated Swiss hopes for a balanced debate and 
resolution.  Reacting to Poloff's skepticism, Paroz said that 
he believed two possible positive outcomes of a special 
session could be an arrangement for humanitarian corridors 
and a UN fact-finding mission.  Paroz said that he recognized 
the danger of "automaticity" with the CHR taking up the 
Middle East situation every time violence flared.  He added 
that Switzerland, as the self-perceived parent of the CHR, 
was very interested in seeing it develop into a constructive 
body. 
 
Israeli Embassy Reaction 
------------------------ 
 
4.(C) Israeli Embassy officer Uri Rothman also called to 
confer on developments in Geneva.  Poloff shared the gist of 
his conversation with Paroz.  Rothman reported that he had 
detected similar ambivalence from DFA Near East chief Livia 
Leu, but did not know the state of play in Geneva.  Rothman 
expressed dismay that the Israeli Embassy's efforts to share 
information with the media had been dismissed as propaganda 
by the Swiss publication "Tages Anzeiger," while the media 
was swallowing whole information coming from Arab stringers 
in Lebanon.  Poloff commiserated with Rothman, but noted the 
fact that some publications had at least taken up the story 
of the doctored Reuters photos - a fraud only exposed because 
of Internet blogs. 
URBAN